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Lambton Collieries was a privately owned colliery and coal mining company, based in
County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly â€About North East E ...
, England.


History

The name derives from
Lambton Castle Lambton Castle stands above Chester-le-Street, County Durham and is a stately home, the ancestral seat of the Lambton family, the Earls of Durham. It is listed in the mid-category of listed building, Grade II*. History Largely constructed a ...
, the ancestral family home of the Lambton family. With coal having been extracted in the area from the 1600s, the commercial extraction of coal was developed by
John Lambton General John Lambton (26 July 1710 – 22 March 1794) of Harraton Hall, later of Lambton Castle, County Durham, was a senior officer in the British Army and a Member of Parliament. Life Lambton was the fourth son of Ralph Lambton (c. 1651–1 ...
in the lands surrounding the castle through the
Wear Valley Wear Valley was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district in County Durham, England. Its council and district capital was Crook. The district covered much of the Weardale area. In the west it was parished and rural, whereas in the eas ...
. The first of seven pits was sunk in the village of Bournmoor from 1783 onwards, which together were to make up what was known as Lambton Colliery. The company was first formed when Lambton's grandson,
John Lambton General John Lambton (26 July 1710 – 22 March 1794) of Harraton Hall, later of Lambton Castle, County Durham, was a senior officer in the British Army and a Member of Parliament. Life Lambton was the fourth son of Ralph Lambton (c. 1651–1 ...
the first
Earl of Durham Earl of Durham is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1833 for the Whig politician and colonial official John Lambton, 1st Baron Durham. Known as "Radical Jack", he played a leading role in the passing of the Gre ...
, entered Parliament as a Whig politician.thepeerage.com John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham
/ref> The formal name change to Lambton Collieries was adopted in 1896. In 1910 the company merged with Hetton Collieries to form Lambton & Hetton Collieries. In 1924, that company merged with Joicey Collieries to form Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Collieries. In 1947, along with all of the other private coal companies of the United Kingdom, it was nationalised under the
Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946 The Coal Industry Nationalisation Act of 1946 (9 & 10 Geo. 6 c. 59) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which nationalised, or brought into state control, the coal industry in the United Kingdom. It established the National Coal B ...
to form the
National Coal Board The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "v ...
.


Lambton Railway

To enable the coal extracted from the collieries to be transported to the
River Wear The River Wear (, ) in North East England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers, wends in a steep valley through th ...
, from 1737 the company had constructed a horse-drawn tramway from
Fatfield Fatfield is an area of Washington, Tyne and Wear, England. The southern part of the village by the River Wear is popular for country walks and the three public houses and working men's club on the banks of the river. The site of the original vil ...
to Cox Green. In 1819 the Lambton's bought the Newbottle wagonway, and connected this to the
Lambton Railway The Lambton Railway was a private industrial railway in County Durham, England, constructed initially as a tramway (industrial), tramway from 1737, to enable coal to be transported from Lambton Collieries to the Port of Sunderland. It closed und ...
with a line between Bournmoor and
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. This now meant that the company had a direct route from its collieries to the River Wear, where it constructed Lambton Staithes within the
Port of Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
. The company went steam powered from 1814, initially with a series of 0-6-0T locomotives. However, due to the steepness of the route over
Warden Law Warden Law is a village and civil parish in the City of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, England. It is south-west of Sunderland city centre. It has a population of 33. At the 2011 Census the population remained less than 100. Details were included ...
, which lies above sea level, the route was worked as a rope-incline with stationary engines until 1864. By 1860, the Lambton was the largest of all the colliery railways in the northeast, totalling across its mainline and branches alone some of track. Still mainly rope-incline worked and developed from original horse-drawn tramways, in the next 20 years it was reengineered to be mainly steam locomotive powered. In 1854 the North Eastern Railway was formed, which gave it control of the mainline from Darlington to Newcastle via the Leamside Line. In 1865, the NER opened a branch from to
Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
, which brought about a running-rights agreement between the Lambton and the NER to allow the company to run its trains over NER metals when required. This resulted in the company buying a new series of 0-6-0 tender locomotives to power these heavier mainline trains. After Lambton Collieries merged with Hetton Collieries in 1911, the company gained control over the Hetton Railway, which was surveyed and laidout by
George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians a great example of diligent application and thirst for ...
from 1822 primarily for the use of steam locomotives. This was still mainly a rope-incline railway, which was made redundant through access to the Lambton Railway. The company did however additionally connect Lambton staithes to the Hetton staithes within the docks. In 1924 after the merger with Joicey Collieries, the company gained control of the Beamish Railway, although this remained a separate operation. In 1959 the Hetton Railway via Warden Law was closed. A further spate of closures occurred in 1967 with Lambton Staithes being closed in January and the line to Pallion closing in August of the same year.


Collieries


References

{{reflist


External links


Lambton Collieries at the Durham Mining MuseumLambton Locomotives Trust
Non-renewable resource companies established in 1820 Non-renewable resource companies disestablished in 1947 Companies based in County Durham Coal companies of England Private companies limited by guarantee of England Defunct mining companies of the United Kingdom History of County Durham Mining in County Durham Defunct companies of England Energy companies established in 1820 Energy companies disestablished in 1947 1820 establishments in England 1947 disestablishments in England British companies disestablished in 1947 British companies established in 1820 Defunct energy companies of the United Kingdom